Apparatus for mixing concrete.



No. 735,530; 'PATENTED AUG. 4, 1903.

P. KI THNEL APPARATUS FOR MIXING CONCRETE.

APPLIOATIQN I'ILBD 00122, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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Patented August 4, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

} PAUL KUHNE, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

'APPARATUS FOR MIXING CONCRETE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters IPatent No. 735,530, dated August4, 1903.

Application filed October 22, 1902. Serial No. 128,253. (ll'o model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL KiiHNE, a citizen of the United States,residing in New York,

borough of Manhattan, and State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Apparatus for Mixing Concrete, of which thefollowing is a specification.

pers and a water-receptacle sidewise of said hoppers, a bucket wheelsupported in suitable bearings of the casing below said hoppers,mixing-grates below said bucket-wheel on which the material drops, meansfor supplying water to the materials during the mixing thereof, and adeflector below each grate for directing the material from one grate tothe other.

The invention consists, further, of certain details of construction andcombinations of parts which will be fully described hereinafter andfinally pointed out in the claims. i

In the accompanying drawings, "Figure 1 represents a vertical transversesection of my improved machine for mixing concrete; and Fig. 2 is avertical transverse section of the same on line 2 2, Fig. 1. 3

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. I

My improved machine for mixing concrete is interTdedao be operatedwithout power by the gravity of the materials supplied into the hoppersof the machine. For this purpose the machine is intended to be supportedon and between parallel beams of any suitable frame structure. Themachine consists of a funnel-shaped casing A,which iswider at the upperend and tapering on two opposite sides to the lower end, said casingbeing rectangular in cross-section and provided at its upper end with aplurality of hoppers of different sizes for receiving variousproportions of two or more materials.-such as cement, sand, gravel,broken stones, cinders, or ashes+t0 be mixed. The hopper B at one sideof the casing A is intended to be .used for cement, While the largermain hopper B is provided with a removable-partition b, that is removedwhen sand, stone, cinders, or ashes is to be used alone, but which isput in place when two materials, as sand and stone or cinders and ashes,are to be mixed with the cement. The lower ends of the hoppercommunicate with a throat O, converging downwardly below the same, andthe lower ends of the cementhopper B and the throat O are provided withgate-valves b b respectively, which are provided with levers c andsuitable locking devices (not shown) at the outer ends of theirpivots,so as to be placed into closed or open position. For filling the hoppersthe valves 12' b are placed in closed position, and obviously foroperatingthe machine they are placed in open position, so that thematerials discharge by gravity out of the hoppers B B through the throatO. The lever that controls the gate-valve of the hopper B for the cementis preferably provided with and adjusted by an index-finger or pointer badapted to move over a graduated scale on the casing adjacent the leverin any approved manner, so as to regulate thereby the quantity of cementthat fiows into the throat in proportion to the flow of the material ormaterials that pass from the hopper, and thus insure the exact quantityof cement desired for themass.

On the sides of the casing, at the ends of and above thebucket-wheel,areparranged arc shaped shields f for preventingmaterialfrom dropping between the ends of the bucket wheel and easing uponthebearings on the shaft. At the upper right-handcorner of the casing A,on the side opposite to the cementhopper, is arranged a receptacle B forwater. This receptacle is connected by a valved pipe D at its lower endwith a smaller receptacle or pocket D vertically below the upperreceptacle, the inner wall of said pocket being perforated, so that thewater from the same issues in the form of jets into the casing A, asshown in Fig. 1. Below the lower end of the throat Cand extendingparallel therewith is arranged a bucket-wheel E, which turns on a shaftsupported stationary of the side walls of the casing A, saidbucket-wheel being adapted to turn under the weight of the materialsdropped into the buckets of the same, so as to discharge said materialsonto an inclined grate G, which is arranged below the bucket-wheel nearthe inner wall of the water-receptacle D. The bucket-wheel Eis retainedin position on the shaft by means of suitable collars 6, so as toprevent the lateral displacement of the bucket-wheel. The bucketsarranged on the circumference of the wheel are supported on suitablespider-frames E, which extend from the hubs on the shaft 6 to the innercircumference of the bucketwheel. The material to be mixed is dischargedapproximately in tangential direction of the bucket-wheel and is droppedinto the buckets, causing the wheel to turn by gravity, so that themixing of the dry material takes place in the buckets, and from thebuckets it is discharged onto the grates G, broken up and mixed by itspassage through the grates, after which it receives the supply of waterby the jets passing through the perforations of the inner wall of thelower receptacle D. The quantity of water thus supplied is regulated bythe faucet and is in proportion to the quantity of material to be mixed.Below the grate G is arranged an inclined chute H, along which themoistened material slides, a concave deflecting-plate F being arrangedintermediately of the grate G and chute H parallel therewith and at oneside, so as to form with the chute a kind of hopper from which thematerial is discharged to a second lower grate G, that is supported onthe opposite side wall of the casing and inclined in an oppositedirection to the grate G. A second inclined chute H is arranged belowthe grate G, so as to conduct the material that is passed through thegrate G toward the oppositely-inclined lower portion of the wall of thecasing and then from the opening A in the lower part of the same to theoutside, ready to be taken up by the buckets of the hoisting apparatus.

In using myimproved concrete-mixing machine the hoppers at the upper endof the same are filled, respectively, with cement, cinders or stones,and sand, as the case may be, according to the mixture of which theconcrete is to be composed, the gate-valve being held in closed positionduring the charging of the hoppers. As soon as they are filled thegate-valve of the throat is opened, while the gate-valve for the cementis held in its proper position, so as to supply the required quantity ofcement. At the same time the faucet is opened, so that the properquantity of water is supplied to the dryly-mixed materials when the sameis tumbled over the first grate, the mixture being placed in the hopperof the grate by the chute H and convex deflecting plate F. A moreintimate mixing of the materials takes place by being dropped on thelower grate G and chute H, so that the machine not only accomplishes thesupply by gravity of the cement, filling material, and Water indetermined quantities, but also the intimate intermixing of thesematerials during their passage by gravity through the machine, so that awell-mixed concrete without use of power and with positively-controlledquantities of cement, &c., is obtained.

By keeping the hoppers continually supplied with therespective-materials the continuous How of the materials through themachine and working of the same are obtained, the proper supply ofcement and water being controlled by the attendant. In this manner avery eitective concrete-mixing machine is obtained which can be used atany desired point without requiring special power and by which theirregular supply of mixing materials by hand heretotore in use isdispensed with.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. A concrete-mixing machine, consisting of afunnel-shaped casing, hoppers for the materials to be mixed arranged atthe upper end of said casing, pivoted gates at the lower ends of saidhoppers, a tapering channel below the lower ends of said hoppers, acentrally-pivoted bucket-wheel below said supply-channel, gratesinclined in opposite directions below said bucket-wheel, and inclinedchutes respectively below said grates in the lower part of the casing,substantially as set forth.

2. A concrete-mixing machine, consisting of a funnel-shaped casing, aplurality of hoppers for the materials to be mixed at the upper end ofthe same, a water-hopper, gatevalves at the lower ends of said hoppers,a mixing-throat at the lower ends of said hoppers, a rotatingbucket-wheel below said mixing-throat, inclined grates and chutes belowsaid bucket-wheel in the lower part of the casing, a water-receptacleprovided with a perforated interior wall located between the upper grateand chute, and means for supplying water from the water-hopper to saidlower receptacle, substantial] y as set forth.

3. A machine for mixing concrete, consisting of a funnel-shaped casingprovided with a discharge-opening at the lower end, a plurality ofhoppers at the upper end for supplying respectively cement, brokenstone, sand and water, a manually-controlled gate-valve at the lower endof the cement-hopper, a gatevalve at the lower end of the stone and sandhopper, a mixing-throat below the lower ends of said hoppers, a rotatingbucket-wheel below said mixing-throat, an auxiliary waterreceptaclebelow the water-hopper, a. valved pipe connecting said water-hopper withthe auxiliary receptacle, an inclined grate and chute below thereceptacle, a perforated par- IIO tition connecting theauXiliarywater-recepmy invention I have signed my name in prestacle, adeflecting-plate adjacent to said grate ence of two subscribingWitnesses. and chute, and an oppositely-inclined grate and chute in thelower part of the casing be- PAUL KUHNE 5 low the upper grate and chute,substantially Witnesses:

as set forth. PAUL GOEPEL,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as HENRY J. SUHRBIER.

